Just finished watching the DVD and I really enjoyed it... couldn't help but shed a few tears because her life is rather tragic and bittersweet.

Keira Knightley is gorgeous and Ralph Fiennes is wonderful as the Duke of Devonshire.

I don't know how closely it follows the life of the actual Duchess of Devonshire but i suspect it is accurate in the main points at least.

The costumes were impressive and Keira knightleys hair do's and hats are something else.

I couldnt help but wonder how in the world people of that time could stand to spend almost all their waking hours trussed up in corsets and other garments layered under clothing that looks lovely but must have been horrible to wear for any length of time not to mention the powder make-up and wigs etc.... sheesh I'd go stark raving crazy! :P

Long story short, I enjoyed it very much and give it 2 thumbs up!

:up:up

11-20-2008, 11:30 AM

ClosetRTWatcher

Re: The Duchess

How did you get it on DVD? My Netflix queue says it doesn't release until December??

11-20-2008, 10:17 PM

Lostgirl

Re: The Duchess

a friend lent me a studio screener of it on DVD

he is in that industry and gets most of the new movies on DVD ahead of time for viewing in time to vote for various awards.

after he watches them he passes them around to friends.

There's also an R5 DVD RIP version of it available on the pay download sites already (i just took a peek)

In Russia, Spain and other places they get the DVD's way sooner than USA or Canada and they show up on the pay sites for download weeks or sometimes months ahead of the DVD release here.

:)

11-20-2008, 10:59 PM

ClosetRTWatcher

Re: The Duchess

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lostgirl;3238358;

a friend lent me a studio screener of it on DVD

he is in that industry and gets most of the new movies on DVD ahead of time for viewing in time to vote for various awards.

after he watches them he passes them around to friends.

There's also an R5 DVD RIP version of it available on the pay download sites already (i just took a peek)

In Russia, Spain and other places they get the DVD's way sooner than USA or Canada and they show up on the pay sites for download weeks or sometimes months ahead of the DVD release here.

:)

Lucky you! I don't generally like to download movies, so I'll just have to wait a few more weeks until Netflix sends it my way! :teeth

11-20-2008, 11:29 PM

Lostgirl

Re: The Duchess

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClosetRTWatcher;3238373;

Lucky you! I don't generally like to download movies, so I'll just have to wait a few more weeks until Netflix sends it my way! :teeth

ya it's nice whenever he has a movie I've been looking forward to seeing.

I'm not crazy about the downloads either because I'm still not sure which are legal and which ones could get ya in trouble.

I guess the "pay" download sites are okay but I'm not 100&#37; clear on how that works.

It's a good movie and I'm sure you'll enjoy it... well worth the wait :)

11-22-2008, 03:54 PM

Bearcata

Re: The Duchess

I liked this movie it really gave a nice feel of how it was to live in an arranged marriage and how one person could absolutely control your life and your access to your children. I am glad movies like that this are still being made, I don't always want to go see the latest shoot em up, where I don't have to think and am pumped full of aimless, meaningless violence, sex, no logical story lines and the writers assuming I don't have a brain and can't see the holes in their plots.

11-30-2008, 05:38 AM

Lostgirl

Re: The Duchess

I totally agree with you Bearcata

Plus I really enjoy the costumes and set decoration in movies about those times.

I took some fashion design after university just to see if I wanted to give it a go... never did because i just didnt think I had the patience or talent to make it big but one thing it gave me was a real appreciation for costume design and such.

Everything is so elaborate and I find it interesting to see how they lived... some things were so strict and others things were 100X worse than we have now

They were so worried about acting appropriately and a lot of it was justified by their religious beliefs yet they thought nothing of chopping someones head off for stealing a loaf of bread. :mmm